


Coffee For Closers

by Littleslimeboy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:10:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2145102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleslimeboy/pseuds/Littleslimeboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He approached the door and turned back to look at Daichi. “See you later, Daichi. Oh and keep the change,” he said before he leaving the shop. </p><p>Once the guy had left, Daichi found it harder to relax again. There was something about that guy that gave him an uneasy feeling and something told him that the guy would be back tomorrow. Daichi let out a sigh as he sat back on his stool, looking towards the ceiling of his shop. Something was definitely going to change; he could feel it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After reading just about every fic in the kurodai tag, I've noticed that it didn't have a coffee shop au. I took it upon myself to write one.

The smell of coffee filled Daichi’s nose as he brewed the first pot of a new day. He started to hum a small tune as he made his way toward the tables to take down the chairs. Every morning he would do the same opening routine; it would begin with turning on the coffeemaker, continue with setting up the shop, and end with him turning on the sign to signal that the shop was open. It seemed that no matter what had happened the day before, setting up the shop would always raise his spirit. 

Maybe it was the smell of the coffee surrounding him that brought energy through his body or the relaxing atmosphere that he was able to create with his shop. Either way, he would always enjoy setting up and seeing his one dream come true. Ever since he was in high school, he had dreamed of owning his own coffee shop. To his friends, it seemed impractical, yet they supported him despite what they believed. 

Once the sign was turned on, Daichi returned to stand behind the counter. To start his second daily routine, he poured himself the first cup of the day. The aroma of the coffee became stronger, engulfing him. He enjoyed the way the steam tickled the inside of his nose and sent goosebumps along his forearm. Before he allowed himself to start his shop, it took him a few months of trying to find the right kind of bean he wanted to represent his shop with. The months of dedication paid off when his shop became popular with certain groups of people, most of which were college kids, but sometimes adults would stop by as well. 

He brought his cup of coffee to his lips with a smile. The sweet aroma soon traveled from the drink towards his nose, bringing along a slightly harsher smell. Most people would believe that after a few years of being surrounded by coffee all the time he’d be burnt out by it, never wanting to be near a cup again. But, they were wrong. Daichi enjoyed the smell as much as he enjoyed the taste of it being freshly brewed. Often when he would be grinding the beans on his scheduled breaks, he couldn’t help but bring the grinds to his nose, though he already had the smell ingrained in his memory.

Before he was able to take the first sip of his coffee, the bell by the door rang, signalling a customer had entered his shop. His eyes darted to the clock to see that it was only about seven, which was unusual, since his first customer typically wouldn’t come until at least eight. Quickly, he turned towards the person entering. Daichi was taken off guard on who walked through the door. He didn’t look like the normal college students that would come by on their way to school. He wore a suit, almost as if he worked at the nearby college instead of attending it. He had the look of someone who could be Daichi’s father. The formal looking man walked towards Daichi as his eyes scanned over the menu to see the prices. It seemed like the man was running late for something; he looked at his watch before bringing his attention to the waiter. “I’ll have a regular coffee with one cream,” he said. The man talked fast, as if doing so would mean Daichi would be able to give him his coffee faster.

Daichi nodded and input the order into the computer. “Would you like anything else, sir?” The man shook his head and reached into his pocket to dig for his wallet. Daichi pressed the ‘total’ button on the register. “That would be $2.06.” The man nodded in response and began to search through his wallet to find some spare change to pay for the coffee. While the assumed college professor was looking through his wallet for spare change, Daichi began to start on his order. Just as the man finished finding the right amount of spare change needed, Daichi returned with the coffee.

The man paused for a moment, taking in the smell. From what Daichi was able to observe, he relaxed slightly, enjoying the aroma of his fresh cup of coffee. Seeing the drink do that to people is what made the shop worth running. Even people who seemed to have an intense personality were able to relax by the smell. The man gave Daichi the money and grabbed his coffee. From what he was able to note in that small moment, the man gave him exact change. The older man turned and began to walk away. Before he left, he looked back towards Daichi and said, “Thank you.”

On instinct, Daichi gave him a smile and waved. “You’re welcome. Have a great day.” The morning had started a bit differently than normal, but hopefully that man would become one of his new customers that he would see everyday. Once the man left the shop, Daichi returned to his coffee. He picked it up and smelled it one more time before he took his first sip. The taste of the coffee danced around his tongue and sent his heart into frits. Usually most people would only have that feeling with their first cup, but ever since Daichi first tasted it, he was able to tell that the bean that he used was the best kind he could have possibly picked. 

Once he finished having his coffee, Daichi walked towards the back room to begin his work on some of the pastries that he sold. Usually he had a few people work on the pastries, but they didn’t come in to work until around 8:30 so he figured he would help them get a head start for when the day becomes too busy for them to handle. He began to hum a small tune once again as he started to work on the popular turnovers. Most of the recipes he used for his pastries comes from his mother. When he told her he wanted to use her recipes for his shop, she was more than happy to share. She also wanted to work in the shop too, but there was no way that Daichi would allow his mother to do something that he knew would be detrimental to her body. 

After what felt like a few minutes, the bell at the door rang again, snapping Daichi’s attention away from the pastries he was about to place in the oven. “Daichi,” the person called out. Without even seeing the person who entered, he knew who was calling him. 

“I’m in the kitchen,” he called back, signalling that he was working on the turnovers. The turnovers were soon placed in the oven with the timer set for 25 minutes. He walked away from the oven and towards the entrance of the kitchen. The person who called him arrived at the door before Daichi was even half way across the room, his silver hair and warm smile greeting him. 

“Good morning, Daichi,” Sugawara said, waving at him. Although Suga was one of Daichi’s friends who didn’t believe in his dream, he became one of the people that Daichi depended on the most. Suga would do all sorts of things to help Daichi run his business; he’d help bake the pastries, or gather new customers by handing out free samples. Daichi soon waved back at his friend. but before he was able to greet him in return, Suga interrupted. 

“You know, you didn’t need to make those pastries, considering how much of a mess you seem to make.” Suga snickered as Daichi looked down at his black apron. It was covered in flour, some of it even finding it’s way to his sneakers. Daichi did like baking, but sometimes he would get so into it that he would become somewhat sloppy with the flour. He let out a groan and attempted to rid the apron of the white flour that covered him. After a few minutes of patting it down, most of the flour left the apron and landed on the floor. There were still patches of white on the apron, but it was something that Daichi wouldn’t be able to change. Flour is a difficult ingredient to get out of clothing and he wasn’t going to spend anymore time on a hopeless matter. 

Once he was finished ridding his apron of flour, he walked towards the kitchen door and greeted Suga. He held a smile and went back into the store front. When he entered the front of the store, he noted that the smell of coffee was slowly waning. He held a certain level in which his shop should smell. It needed to be something that would relax someone, not something so weak that it could hardly be noticed. Dachi made his way to the coffee machine and poured out the pot he had made earlier. He hated pouring coffee down the drain, but what he hated even more was when coffee became burnt from sitting on the warmer for too long. The quality of his drinks held a higher priority over saving the money he spent on the beans. 

He began to brew a new pot, allowing the vapors from the hot liquid to fill his shop once again. Once the clock hit nine, the morning regulars began to enter his shop. It was almost as if it was like clock work. The first person came in and he greeted them with a smile. While he was making their cup of coffee, Daichi enjoyed holding conversations with his customers. Exchanges came easier as they came to his shop more often. 

Many cups were ordered during the morning rush, and due to the shops busyness, Daichi started making the pots while chatting with his customers. The aroma from all of the pots filled the store and was accented by certain flavor shots. To be honest, the rushes had to be one of his favorite parts of the day. That was the time where the delightful scent filled the air and the college kids would take a moment away from their busy lives to buy his coffee. 

Before he could comprehend the amount of time that had passed, the morning rush was over, with only a few stragglers to fill his shop. A good portion of them were still in their pajamas and using his wifi to work on their homework; it had become normal for a few customers to stay behind. The smile that he wore while serving earlier was soon replaced by one more relaxed. This place was definitely his escape from reality. He didn’t have a radio or television in his shop as he always thought it brought a distraction from the atmosphere he was trying to create.

Daichi soon took a deep breath and decided to sit on the stool that he kept behind the counter. Around this time, he would have his break and have someone from the kitchen take over, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to move from the front. The scent of the coffee overwhelmed his senses once again and made him unwilling to move from his spot. He closed his eyes, his body completely relaxed. 

A ring of the bell at the door soon broke his moment of relaxation. Daichi opened his eyes and sat straight up on the stool. The person who entered didn’t look like one of his usual customers.

“Did a professor come in this morning? He wore a suit.. Sort of missing hair on the top of his head? Has forehead creases?” the person asked as he approached the counter. He was sort of loud, causing Daichi to really focus on the person approaching him. It was a guy who seemed to have awful bed head, wearing sweatpants along with a black tanktop.

“Yes,” Daichi responded looking at the man suspiciously. He didn’t like the vibes that the man in front of him was sending.

The guy smiled at Daichi and stated, “Good. I would like two regular coffees. One with two creams, one sugar and a shot of vanilla while the other one is two cream, two sugars, with a shot of espresso.” Daichi input the guy’s order into the computer and looked at him. 

“That would be $4.14,” Daichi said as he started to make the coffee. Usually he would want to talk to his new customers but there was something about this guy that he didn’t like. The guy nodded, putting a $5 bill on the counter as if he had ordered at the shop multiple times before. Once Daichi finished making both coffees and placing them in a carrier, he took the bill and put it into the register. Before he was able to gather the man’s change, he was walking away with both coffees in hand.

He approached the door and turned back to look at Daichi. “See you later, Daichi. Oh and keep the change,” he said before he leaving the shop. 

Once the guy had left, Daichi found it harder to relax again. There was something about that guy that gave him an uneasy feeling and something told him that the guy would be back tomorrow. Daichi let out a sigh as he sat back on his stool, looking towards the ceiling of his shop. Something was definitely going to change; he could feel it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of a background point so the actual plot can be able to take off in the next chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write than this on v.v

Once the little hand on the clock hit nine, Daichi was able to close shop. He let out a sigh of relief, walking towards the door to turn off the bright sign that lit the busy street. The day was finally over. Though he loved working at the shop, the way the energy that he felt flow through his shop wasn’t one for his liking. It seemed that ever since the guy with bad bedhead left, the vibes in the shop shifted. He wanted to blame him for the horrible feeling that had churned his stomach, yet he couldn’t bring himself to hate someone he just met.

After he turned off the clock, Daichi walked towards the kitchen to grab the cleaning supplies. By about eight, Sugawara and his two other kitchen helpers would usually be gone. He didn’t mind them leaving early as long as they cleaned the kitchen before they left. They made the mistake of not cleaning once; they ended up becoming slightly scared of Daichi. He was a laid back guy, but if he was angered by anything, the people around him would feel instant regret over their actions. 

Daichi soon returned to the front of the shop with a rag and cleaning spray after quickly looking over the kitchen. He walked over to a table and sprayed it down. As he began to wipe the junk that sat on top of the table away, his mind wandered away from cleaning and back towards the guy he met earlier. There was definitely something about him that seemed off. It wasn’t his style nor was it the way he acted in the shop, but it might’ve been his overall presence.

While he continued to wipe down each table, Daichi continued to swim in his thoughts trying to come up with a good answer. After cleaning the tables and putting up all of the chairs, he still wasn’t able to come up with an answer. The situation shouldn’t have been able to consume his thoughts; it was ridiculous for him to even think that the guy with uncontrollable bedhead brought a bad presence with him. In an attempt to rid himself of the awful thoughts, Daichi shook his head. He needed to focus on closing the shop and not on the guy he saw earlier. 

He returned to the counter and grabbed the half filled coffee pot. It was always such a waste to get rid of coffee, but at the end of the day, he would just fill a thermos to take home. It wouldn’t matter to him whether it was cold or burnt, he would always bring it home. On sundays, he would end up putting the extra coffee on ice and drink it throughout the day. It would give him the energy to power through the cleaning he would do for his mother while she was out. The coffee that was left over was enough to fill his camping thermos about halfway. 

After he filled the thermos, he grabbed several boxes and filled them with the leftover pastries. Almost every night he would bring the leftover pastries to the nearest soup kitchen. They would always thank him for his donation, but being able to see the homeless smile at the sweets they got would always be thank you enough. Once all the boxes were filled, he checked the brewers to make sure they were off; he didn’t want to risk something happening if he didn’t turn them all off.

Before he left, he grabbed his keys. The shop became engulfed in darkness as he flipped the light switch. Tomorrow, he’d begin the same routine of setting up the tables, brewing the morning coffee and waiting until the college students began to flood into his shop.

Thoughts of the new guy coming back the next day clouded his mind once again. Why was it so difficult for him to shake the feeling he got from the guy? Whenever he felt all thoughts he had about the strange guy had disappeared, they came rushing back.

In an attempt to refresh his mind again, Daichi closed his eyes and inhaled the smell of the shop. It was meek, but alive enough to distract his thoughts once more. He strode across his shop to the front door and exited the shop. Even though he loved the smell of coffee to stay in the room, he refused to make a new pot at the end of the night. It’d be unlikely that he would sell it that late, so he deemed it as not worth it.

Soon, the keys were brought to the lock on the door. With a sigh of relief, he managed to leave one of the places that always seemed to make him stressed and relaxed at the same time. He began walking away from the shop with all of his items in his hands, refusing to look back. Even though he is at ease when he works, worrying about what he needed to do to take care of the bills always came at him like a pile of bricks. He couldn’t run away from those problems. 

Trying to think of something else, Daichi dragged his mind away from the stressful thoughts about bills and towards the lit path in the direction of his home. He only lived about a mile or two away from the shop so it was no big deal for him to walk home. It would usually give him his daily exercise that his mother had always been nagging him about since high school. He watched the world around him as he tried to distract his mind from both the bills he needed to pay at the end of the month and the new guy who came into his shop earlier. 

He continued to walk as he checked each shop he passed by to make sure he wasn’t passing the soup kitchen. His concentration from the shops slowly began to slip as his mind traveled back to the guy with the awful bed head. There was something about him that made Daichi’s stomach turn. If he were to mention it to Sugawara, he would say something along the lines of maybe he just ate something bad before the guy entered. He bit the inside of his cheek as the sound of the guy saying his name rang through his ears. 

It was ridiculous for him to be thinking about one particular customer. Daichi had multiple people come in a day that would rub him the wrong way, so one guy shouldn’t have been any different; he shouldn’t be hanging around in his thoughts. He let out a deep breath as he tried to focus back on the stores and not on the guy who seems to haunt every thought that he’d been having for the past few hours. A few seconds after he forced the thoughts of the guy out of his head, he arrived at the soup kitchen. 

With a smile on his face and two boxes of pastries in his hands, he entered the building. The smell of tomato soup filled the air as he looked at the people filling up the seats along the windows. The people who sat in the seats looked at him and smiled; they seemed to remember who he was. Knowing that made his stomach settle from the fit it was having earlier. “Daichi,” he heard a voice call towards him, snapping his attention from the homeless. Daichi looked forward and saw the girl who was able to make the kitchen happen. 

He walked over to her, still holding the smile on his face and the two boxes in his hands. “Good to see you back here again! You have more sweets for these people, I take?” He heard the excitement in her voice. She really did seem to enjoy seeing him and the treats that he brought.

With a nod, he walked over to the blond girl behind the table and handed her the two boxes of leftover pastries from his shop. “I hope the people here enjoy them. From what it seems, Suga makes much more than what we are able to sell.” Daichi let out a small laugh as he turned away from her and towards the tables that were filled with people who lived in the streets. “You know, you’ve done a really good thing here, Yachi. They seem a lot happier than they did a few months ago.” His attention soon floated away from the crowd towards the girl with blond hair. She ended up moving away from him and placing the boxes at the end of the table. She held a focused face as she opened the boxes and allowed the people to take a few pastries. 

A soft smile grew to his lips as he watched her handle the people with care. No one in this area seemed to want to help these people, and it warmed his heart to see someone step forward and help them get back on their feet. Not wanting to interrupt her, Daichi began to walk back towards the door. By the time he was standing under the doorframe, he turned towards his old classmate and waved. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” he stated before he left the kitchen to return to his walk. 

The weight of the thermos began to weigh down on his shoulder as his travel home continued. He would try to switch shoulders, but after what seemed like only a few minutes, it would begin to hurt once again. It was moments like these he wished he drove to work instead of walked. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he continued on his endless journey home, seeing nothing but darkness. Nothing held his thoughts as he walked home. He was finally able to take in the small light of the stars and the sound of leaves crunching beneath his feet. He’d rather be listening to that than his own thoughts.

His empty thoughts were soon broken when he stumbled upon someone in a gray hoodie, spray painting the side of an abandoned brick building. He slowed his pace to see what the man was doing. Once he was close enough to where he could see clearly, he was able to tell the person was painting what looked like basic spray-painting. Daichi rolled his eyes as he began to walk away at his normal pace. The person was clearly one of those wannabe street artists. In his walks through the towns, he had seen many of those kinds of people. He could never read the words in their art, so he never paid too much attention to it.

Daichi soon arrived at his apartment after about another ten minutes. Once he entered the small building, he didn’t even bother to turn on the lights. He took his shoes off, placed the thermos on the table, and walked towards the bedroom. It may have been hard to tell where he was walking, but his body was giving out. Once he landed on the bed, he fell asleep, his tired mind awaiting the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry its been so long since I've updated this! Life got a hold of me and I completely forgot about all of this. Even though, it's been a while, I hope you guys enjoy!

Despite forgetting to plug his phone into the charger, Daichi woke up early the following morning. He glanced over at the digital clock that sat on his night stand and the time read, 4:00 am. Today was Thursday, knowing what that meant. Unwillingly, he rose out of bed with a small grunt. He wasn’t too happy about what today meant but he had to get through today because tomorrow is payday, for everyone. Rubbing his eyes, he sluggishly got ready for work. After about thirty minutes of getting ready, he was finally able to leave for work, thermos in hand. 

The ten-minute walk wasn’t too bad, at least so he thought. He should get there early enough to start a fresh pot and get everything ready for the day; at least till his day staff comes in. Walking to work at four in the morning is usually quiet with a minimal amount of movement amongst the people. The cold fall air would nip at his nose with each step. The cold was causing a shiver to fall down his spine as he quickly made his way to the coffee shop. 

About halfway through his walk, he stumbled across the alley the spray painter was in. He contemplated whether he should enter to see what the damage was. If he gets caught there, the police would accuse him, and he might lose his business, something he’s worked so hard to maintain. Slightly zoning out, he didn’t notice his feet bringing him in the direction of the alley. With caution, he leaned forward slight to see… a cat?

Why would someone spend their time and money to spray paint a cat on the side of an abandoned building? The artistry was decent, but he didn’t really understand the purpose of having a cat be there. Becoming dissatisfied with the mystery of late night hooligan, Daichi continued his walk to work. His hands were buried deep into his pocket as he tried to protect his nose from the wind. 

Once he made it to his shop, he quickly unlocked it to enter. A smile came across his face as he felt his fingers defrost from the heat of the oven. The smell of fresh turnovers filled the air as he made his way towards the back. He tried to think over on who was the baker on Thursdays until he saw Enoshita peak his head through the kitchen entrance. “Good morning, sir,” he was greeted before the baker returned to his work. 

Daichi made his way to the back, taking off his jacket and replacing it with the apron he stores here. Now it was time to get into the daily routine. He went back up front and started two fresh pots of coffee; one for the customers that come this early and the other for the batch of ice coffee. While they brew, he takes the chairs off the tables and wipes them down. The smell of coffee filled the air, covering the smell of Enoshita’s turnovers. 

That smell alone always made his heart race. Besides his prior love for volleyball during high school, nothing has been able to make him this happy. The two brewers soon indicated that they were finished. Daichi returned to the station, placing one pot on a warmer and removing the other from any kind of heat. Internally, he struggled between making himself a cup and getting back to work. This train of thought was soon broken when he heard the bell above the door ring. 

That was odd. Daichi checked the time and noted that they weren’t open for another ten minutes. He didn’t even finish setting up the shop. His attention turned towards the man who made his way down the stairs. It was that one college kid with bad bed head from yesterday. Wearing an unamused look, Daichi said, “Excuse me, sir. We don’t open for another ten minutes.” 

The kid disregarded Daichi and sat down in one of the chairs. He looked around the room, taking in the classic coffee shop look. 

His aggravation grew as he was blown off by the kid. Taking a deep breath, he wasn’t going to let that get to him. That kid was probably just going to wait in the shop until they are technically open for business. Besides, what was he doing up this early anyway? The only people that are awake are those that have early morning jobs and those that are up to no good.

Anyways, he was going to continue his routine until the store opened and his crew came in for work. Picking up where he left off, he returned to the lobby and finished placing the chairs back on the floor. Once the lobby was relatively settled, he grabbed the drawer from his back office and brought it to the register. He only had a few minutes before one of the morning regulars came in. 

That got all settled and Daichi glanced back out to the kid in the lobby. Now he was walking around looking at the minimal décor on the walls. That kid was loitering and getting on his last nerves at this point. Making a few of the regulars’ coffees with the properly assigned names, he continued to watch the kid making sure he doesn’t destroy anything. 

Noticing that Daichi was making coffees now, the kid approached with a grin on his face. A slight odor emanated from him. It wasn't body odor; it was something more hazardous. It caused his nose hairs to stand on end. “Good morning, sir. What can I get for you?” He was trying to sound as nice as he could possibly be.

The kid looked up at the menu, obviously weighing his option before looking back at Daichi. “I’ll take a small latte with an extra shot of expresso and one of those amazing smelling turnovers.”

Daichi nodded, trying not to breath in. Part of him was hoping that the odor didn’t comply fill up the place and make the entire shop reek. After entering both amounts into the register, Daichi looked at him with a false smile. “Your total is 649 yen.” Without much of a word, the kid handed over the money and went back to the lobby to patiently wait for his order.

Quickly, Daichi made the latte marking it with the name he was told of yesterday, and went in back to get a turnover. Placing both items on the counter, he called over to the kid. “Your order is ready.”

Despite the obvious fake nice attitude that Daichi was giving him, the guy with major bed head looked at him with a grateful smile. That took the owner back a bit. That sly smile had a bit of a charm to it. Though, it may be a teasing charm, but that’s still something. “Thank you. I’ll see you later, Daichi.” For a slight moment, he forgot his aggravation against the kid with bed head and a foul odor. Instead, he was kind of happy about this new regular coming it. That new idea caused his heart rate to increase ever so slightly.

“Have a good day, Kuroo,” he said as the other was leaving. Even though their interaction was short, and caused some slight hostility, Daichi was intrigued by him.


End file.
